Becoming Us
by Black Rose 2014
Summary: He hated being Philip. Philip was someone no one loved. Someone who had to constantly hide who he was. Someone whose father would probably dissect him if he ever figured out what he was. He wanted to be Fili. Fili was loved, even if it was only by Kili. The problem was, he hadn't met Kili yet. And he couldn't really become Fili without Kili. Fili/Kili Unrelated Mutant AU Pre-Slash
1. Chapter 1

Becoming Us

Fili stared at the television in horror as the news showed footage of the decimated Erebor.

There was one dream shattered.

 _"_ _Most of the predominantly mutant population of the haven country was destroyed in last night's heinous attack,"_ the newscaster's voice could be heard over the footage. _"But sources say that some survivors were able to get away. Since it was settled eight years ago, Erebor has offered sanctuary to any mutant that asked. The President has expressed his sympathies to citizens of Erebor, but has been clear that mutants are not welcome to seek asylum in America. We've received no word, yet, on whether Ereborian President Thorin Oakenshield has sur—"_

The television was shut off, and Fili's head snapped up to see his father standing next to him.

Shit. He had been so absorbed in news that he hadn't even been paying attention to his surroundings. It was okay, he realized. His father wasn't suspicious for his interest, thankfully. If anything, he felt like he was… proud.

It wasn't directed at Fili, though.

"The mutant problem is finally being solved, Philip," he said with satisfaction. "Now that we've wiped Erebor from the map, it's only a matter of time before we annihilate them all."

Philip. He hated being Philip. Philip was someone no one loved. Someone who had to constantly hide who he was. Someone whose father would probably dissect him if he ever figured out what he was.

He wanted to be Fili. Fili was loved, even if it was only by Kili. The problem was, he hadn't met Kili yet. And he couldn't really become Fili without Kili.

"You did that?" he asked, trying to sound awestruck instead of sick to his stomach. All those people…

But they weren't people to him, Fili thought bitterly. They were _mutants._

"Well, not me specifically," his father replied with a shrug, but his emotions betrayed him. No one felt that much pride for something they played no role in. "But colleagues of mine."

Fili carefully kept his face emotionless as he looked down at the carpet and struggled to keep his sorrow at bay. He didn't understand how his father could be so… _gleeful…_ at the thought of the Erebor bombings. A new, growing nation just wiped off the map.

From the moment he had learned about the mutant nation, he had wanted to go. Had wanted to find Kili and escape with him to a place where people would accept their mutations. Where they could be _safe_ and _happy._

Not so safe, though, if the burning island from the TV was anything to go by.

"Philip…" his father called, voice sounding… sad. Fili's eyes widened and he looked up with a quiet gasp, cringing at the sorrow in his eyes.

Crap.

He pulled in his emotions, tucking his sadness back into his own mind and held his breath as the sorrow in his father's pale eyes faded to confusion.

His father shook his head before looking down at him with a frown. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"It's summer," he pointed out even as relief flooded him. It didn't seem like his father had caught his slip. "May I be excused?"

He shot up to his room as soon as he was waved off and sighed once he was safely ensconced in his room.

His secret wasn't out yet.

His father hadn't figured out he was an empathetic precog. Or a precognitive empath. Fili wasn't quite sure which version he liked.

It basically meant that he could see the future and could read and control the emotions of others.

He had researched common mutations on the Internet to figure out what to call himself. He had discovered that having two like him wasn't that unusual, but typically one or the other would be weaker, usually the second one that manifested.

He had always been able to feel other people's emotions. Well, for as long as he could remember, at least. He hadn't been able to change them until recently though. He really wasn't sure how to do it on purpose, but if he felt something too strongly, he kinda… broadcasted it… to anyone around him.

And since his father was usually the only person he was around, outside of school of course, broadcasting was dangerous.

He had had his first vision when he was six. He knew it was a vision, too, because he feel other people's emotions in it. In dreams, he could only feel his own emotions. And other people's emotions always had their own distinct flavor.

His first vision was of Kili. Smiling widely at him, laughter in his eyes, and sending love straight to his heart as he called him "Fili."

Of course, he hadn't known the other boy's name then. But it had been the first time he had ever felt love being directed at _him._

He hadn't realized it was the future until he had had more visions. Mostly little things. He saw Marie, their housekeeper, break a vase in the foyer the day before it happened. He saw his father announce his trip to California an hour beforehand. He saw the A that he got on his math test before he even took it.

He hadn't seen anything big yet. Nothing important. Except for Kili.

He saw Kili a lot.

He saw him as a kid about his own age, grinning at him with two front teeth missing. He saw him as a gangly pre-teen. A handsome twenty-year-old. A distinguished-looking old man with mischievous eyes.

And he always looked at him, loved him, and called him "Fili."

He had been lucky, so far, in that no one had ever caught him having a vision. At first, they had come at night while he was sleeping. Those were easy to hide. But when they started coming to him while he was awake, he was terrified that his father would see. He wasn't sure what his eyes looked like in the middle of a vision, but at best, they were glazed over.

It would no doubt make him suspicious.

He sighed as he lay down on his bed, eyelids heavy as the mid-morning sun peeked through the windows. He let them slide shut, figuring a nap couldn't hurt anything.

 _He blinked his eyes open and squinted at the bright white light shining directly in his eyes. He made to shade his eyes with his arm but began to panic as his arms wouldn't move. He tried kicked out with his legs but they wouldn't move either. With dawning horror, he realized that there were metal bands locking his limbs down._

 _He tried to turn his head, but it, too, was strapped down tightly._

 _He was truly panicking now. Where was he? What was happening?_

 _"_ _Dammit," a voice swore above him before he felt a pinprick at his neck as some sort of liquid was injected into him._

 _He felt a cloud descend upon his mind, body relaxing on the cold metal table. He felt like he was floating._

 _He squinted his eyes as a shadowy figure loomed over him._

 _"_ _Now, boy," his father's uncaring voice said. "Let's see what makes you tick."_

 _Fear like he'd never known shot through him as he caught sight of the scalpel in his father's hand._

He shot straight up in bed, panting in residual fear from the vision.

There was no time to waste. He had to leave _now._

He pulled a knapsack from his closet and threw a few clothes in, grabbing the money he had hoarding for years and burying it at the bottom of the bag, all the while trying to still his shaking hands.

He had never stopped a vision from happening before. He had never _tried._

What if he couldn't?

He froze as he heard a door slam downstairs, but relaxed as he heard his father's car outside.

Good. That gave him time to get away.

He didn't know where he would go, though. Where could he go?

His mind shot to Kili. He close his eyes, trying to remember any significant landmark in all of his visions to figure out where he was.

He snapped them open as he remembered one vision of Kili leaning over a railing to gaze into a body of water, a looming figure just visible through the fog in the background.

The Statute of Liberty.

Mind made up, he grabbed his bag and headed out the door.

He was going to New York.

#

He was garnering strange looks on the bus, but that was understandable. He was a nine-year-old on his own. None of them seemed overly concerned. Most were sympathetic. That was okay. Sympathy could be used. He'd learn that when he bought his ticket.

He hadn't _meant_ to influence the ticket lady's emotions, but he had panicked, which had made _her_ panic. And instead of pulling his influence away, he had decided to shift it, remembering how sympathy felt and _pushing._

He wasn't proud of it, but he figured he should get used to it. His survival might depend on it.

He closed his eyes, feeling emotionally drained as the bus finally made it out of Chicago. Maybe his future had changed now. Maybe the vision had been diverted.

But did that mean someone else was strapped down to be his father's lab experiment?

Guilt shot through him, but there was nothing he could do. He knew his father had experimented on mutants before. He had seen some of his files before the housekeeper had scolded him for being his father's office while he was out.

He let sleep drive the guilt away. It'd take a whole day for them to get to New York. He might as well take some of that time to sleep.

 _Kili rounded a street corner, twirling happily around a sign that read "Avenue B," before bouncing into his apartment building. He bounded up the narrow stairs and flung open the door marked 3F and entered the small apartment. "Mom! Dad! I'm hoping!" he cried, toeing his shoes off by the door and walking further into the living room. He frowned as he looked around before his eyes alighted on the rack of cookies cooling on the kitchen counter._

 _He creeped into the kitchen and glancing over his shoulder once more. "Mom?" he called again before grinning and grabbing a cookies, smushing it into his mouth._

 _Just as he was about to risk grabbing another cookie, the apartment seemed to shake before the world exploded around him a split second later._

"Kili!" he gasped, heart racing as he came out of the vision.

He could tell that his fear was creeping into the people around him, but he couldn't pull it back. Not this time.

Kili was in danger. God, Kili was going to die!

No, no, no, _no!_ Kili couldn't die. He couldn't lose him before they even met!

He silently willed the bus to go faster. He had to get to New York.

He had to save Kili.

#

The bus made it to New York an hour and a half before schedule, probably due to the anxiety he was no doubt pumping into the driver.

He was the first one off the bus, not caring that he knocked a couple people at the front over in his haste. He had studied a map of New York City stuffed conveniently in the pouch of the seat in front of him and knew exactly where he was going.

Well, not exactly, but the closest Avenue B to the bus station was in Manhattan and Fili really hoped it was the one he had seen in his vision. He ran to the nearest subway station and quickly scanned the map while feeding money into the kiosk to get a MetroPass.

He ran all the way to the train, grateful that one was already there and that he wouldn't have to wait. He hopped on, feeling impatient at not moving, even as the train itself began to go.

He knew that the subway would take him where he needed to go sooner than running would, but standing still felt _wrong._

He pushed his way off the subway once they got to the 1st Avenue stop, running in the direction he _hoped_ Avenue B was.

He nearly collapsed in relief as he saw the Avenue B sign, but there was no time. He took the turn still going as fast as he could, not caring who he knocked over on the way.

His only thought was for Kili.

He stopped dead as he saw him ahead, twirling around a sign for Avenue B and turning.

His heart stuttered. Despite everything, there had always been a half-formed fear in the back of is mind that Kili wasn't _real._

And there he was.

He was the most beautiful thing Fili had ever seen.

"KILI!" he called at the top of his lungs, sighing in relief as the dark-haired boy stopped and looked down the street at him. He took off running again, still about a block from the other boy.

He doubled over as he came to a stop in front of him, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"Do I know you?" Kili asked him, not an ounce of suspicion directed towards him, which shocked Fili to the core. A strange boy had just yelled at him and run up to him as if the world were about to end. How could he not be suspicious?

But all Kili felt was curiosity mixed with a little concern as Fili had yet to catch his breath and speak.

He shook his head. "No," he said breathlessly. "But I've seen you, and we've gotta go!"

Excitement and confusion flared within Kili as Fili grabbed his hand and tugged him back towards the way he came. He wasn't sure how far the explosion would span so he wanted to get as far away as possible before—

They were both suddenly thrown forward as a concussive blast erupted behind them.

He felt pain, confusion, and fear rush through Kili as he helped the other boy up. When Kili looked back to see the burning, charred remains of his building, icy horror filled him.

"Mom! Dad!" he cried, rushing forward only to be held back by Fili's arms.

"Kili, no! It's not safe!" he said, struggling to hold him back.

Dark eyes glared at him. "My parents were in there! They… they…" he broke off with a wail before collapsing in Fili's arms in sobs.

"I'm sorry," Fili murmured, feeling guilty that he couldn't get there sooner. "I would've saved them if I could've."

"Y-you saved _me,"_ the brunet realized with a gasp, looking up at him in shock. "You…"

"I tried to get here sooner!" he said in a pleading voice, needing Kili to understand that he would've saved his parents if he could have. "I swear! I only just saw when I was on the bus here! I would've… I swear, I would've tried to save them too!"

"You're… like me," Kili said slowly as realization sunk in. He looked back to his burning apartment. "Like they were…"

He burst into tears once more but let Fili pull him up and start leading him away.

"We've gotta get away from here," Fili told him. "We don't know who blew up your apartment. They might not like that you got away."

There was no way that Kili himself was the target. Who would want to blow up a kid? But his parents might have been if they were mutants too.

With the fall of Erebor, Fili knew it would be more dangerous than ever to be a mutant.

"There," Kili said in a weak voice after they had crossed through a park and gone another block or so, pointing at a brick building with a mural of the sky against a row of buildings painted on its face. Fili shot him a confused look. "Hotel," he explained with a sniffle.

He frowned at the building. It didn't look what he'd expect a hotel to look like, but he would yield to Kili's superior knowledge of the area. "There's no way they'll give us a room," he said.

"I'll get us a room," Kili mumbled, pulling away from the arm that Fili had wrapped around him only to take his hand and tug weakly.

They slunk past the people who were gathered on the street, all peering at the smoke coming from a few blocks away and gossiping over what had happened.

"The mutants in District X, no doubt," one woman said in a particularly nasty tone.

Kili led him into the hotel and up the stairs, scanning the hallway before picking a room on the far right. He put his hand on the door, and Fili watched in wonder as the lock mechanism flashed green before Kili turned the handle.

He opened his mouth to tell Kili how amazing that was, but the other boy had collapsed again on the hard, wooden floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Fili immediately dropped down next to him and took him in his arms, rocking him gently. He wasn't sure how long they stayed there, but he eventually was able to coax Kili onto the bed, taking a moment to flip the deadlock on the door so that no one burst in on them unexpectedly before climbing on after him and pulling him close once more.

"What am I going to do?" Kili asked in a hoarse voice after he had cried all of the tears he had in him to cry. He hiccuped softly. "I don't have anybody."

"You have me," Fili stated hesitantly, knowing it was probably a small comfort to the other boy. But Kili looked up at him with such gratitude that Fili didn't even have to be an empath to see it.

"You don't even know me," he said. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I want to know you," he murmured. "Because you're all I've got too."

"What's your name?" Kili asked.

"Fili," he answered, saying the name he had adopted for himself out loud for the first time.

Kili obviously didn't have the energy to smile, but Fili felt the small sliver of happiness that shone through despite all the despair in his heart. "My Fili," he muttered as his eyes slid shut in exhaustion.

"Your Fili."

Fin.

A/N: This is basically an prologue for an X-Men!AU that I plan to write after I finish one of my other stories. Just testing the water to see if there's any interest. Let me know if you want more!


	2. Sequel posted

Sequel, Us Against the World, posted.


End file.
